Furniture Stores

You can sink a lot of money into furniture and, if you don’t buy carefully, spend too much, wind up with defective products or months-late delivery, have to live with items you hate, or get stuck with pieces that don’t hold up. Before you begin shopping, formulate a general plan of what will fit your space, set a budget, and decide how long you expect it to last.

In our Ratings Tables, you’ll see we found big service quality differences among area stores. Checkbook receives an inordinate number of complaints—and poor ratings—from customers of many stores. Fortunately, some furniture stores make shopping easy.

Comparing prices is difficult because many retailers sell items that aren’t available elsewhere; and it’s unusual to find the same national brands sold by more than one or two retailers. But there are steps you can take to get good prices. If you’re shopping at independent stores, we recommend you ask them to bid competitively for your business.

Furniture Stores Articles

Most of us have made unwise furniture purchases that a bit of planning would have prevented. Before shopping, evaluate your budget, how you’ll use the furniture, how it fits in with your other furniture and tastes, and other considerations.

Although buying furniture should be a straightforward purchase, Checkbook receives an inordinate number of complaints—and poor ratings—from customers of many stores. Fortunately, some furniture stores make shopping easy.

Comparing furniture prices is extraordinarily difficult. Many products are sold exclusively by a single chain, sale prices can’t be trusted to be low prices, and many stores don’t list prices on the Web. Here are some tips on finding the best deals.

By choosing a store that is rated high for advice, you improve your chances of getting honest assessments of the quality and durability of furniture pieces from store personnel. But it helps if you know enough to make some assessments of your own.

If the job of decorating your home seems too big for your available time, know-how, or talent; if you want the benefit of someone else’s ideas; or if you want access to items not available to the public; consider using an interior designer.